President Obama upheld a presidential tradition and pardoned the official White House turkey yesterday in Washington. Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation and the Poultry and Egg National Board have given a turkey to the US president as a gift. But the pardons are a relatively recent innovation.

Since then, presidents have been more likely to call the turkey dinner than give it a reprieve. But a notable exception occurred in 1963, when President Kennedy, referring to the turkey given to him, said, "Let's just keep him." It wasn't until 1989, during the first Thanksgiving of President George H.W. Bush, that a turkey was officially pardoned.

Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have all upheld the turkey pardoning tradition. However, some confusion still abounds regarding the true origin of this practice. Some claim that Harry Truman pardoned the turkey he received in 1947, but the Truman Library has been unable to prove this as fact. Others say that the tradition dates back to Abraham Lincoln's pardoning of his son Tad's pet turkey.

SFGate details the fates of the pardoned turkeys, including the 2010 bird. Link